Why 2017 Is a Very Significant Year for Harry Potter

With every new year brings a new beginning, a chance to wipe the slate clean and set some new goals to accomplish. Each year also brings new anniversaries and milestones that are passed with each coming day, and as we look forward to see what 2017 may have to offer, this year marks a very important milestone in the Harry Potter franchise, albeit one that may not be readily identifiable. While it isn't stated or confirmed anywhere in the Harry Potter books or movies, a deep dive into the franchise reveals that 2017 is the year that Harry Potter's son Albus first starts at Hogwarts.

The epilogue of J.K. Rowling's final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the finale movie of the same name, features an adult Harry Potter, Hermione and Ron Weasley as they all take their children to Platform 9 3/4, as Harry's middle son Albus heads off to Hogwarts for his first year in this magical school. This epilogue is set 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and although an exact date is never given in the book or the movie, Cinema Blend's investigative work reveals that this important moment does in fact take place in the year 2017.

While the eight Harry Potter movies were released in a 10-year stretch between 2001 and 2011, the stories themselves take place in the 1990s, although specific years are never confirmed. However, there is one event that takes place in the second movie/book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which fans have used as a landmark of sorts to determine what years each book is set in. Early on in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter attends the 500th deathday celebration for the ghost dubbed Nearly Headless Nick, played by John Cleese in the movie. In the book, the deathday cake features Nick's tombstone, which reads, "Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington Died 31st October, 1492."

This means that his 500th deathday party took place in October of 1992, which means that the Battle of Hogwarts took place in the spring of 1998, specifically, May 2, 1998. In fact, on May 2, 2015, the 17th anniversary of the Battle for Hogwarts, author J.K. Rowling even took to her Twitter account to apologize for killing off Fred Weasley in the Battle of Hogwarts, adding that she will continue to apologize to fans for various deaths in this battle every anniversary. Last year, she apologized for killing Remis Lupin, played by David Thewlis in the movies.

It isn't clear if J.K. Rowling has any plans for new stories that may show what happened on the first day of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the children of Harry Potter and the Weasleys. The author often releases new Harry Potter short stories through the Pottermore website, including two short story collections that debuted this past fall, not to mention the hit play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is gearing up for its U.S. debut on Broadway in 2018, and the movie spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which hit theaters in November and kicks off a new series of five movies.